Hawaii Senate Unanimously Passes Media Literacy Bill

On March 6, 25 “yes” votes from 25 senators were recorded on the Senate floor in Honolulu, Hawaii in favor of media literacy education.

The bill, SB 2070, based on Media Literacy Now’s national model, would require the department of education to develop a plan to teach digital citizenship and media literacy in grades kindergarten through twelve in public schools, including charter schools and Hawaiian language immersion schools.

Championed by Senator Mike Gabbard, the bill will now move to the House Education Committee. Said Gabbard after the vote: “It’s great that SB 2070 unanimously passed the Senate … This is a testament to the importance of educating our young people about how to process all the online information they are bombarded with on a daily basis.”

Maholo to Sen. Gabbard for his steadfast leadership on media literacy education policy!

Media Literacy is a 21st century approach to education. It provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate, create and participate with messages in a variety of forms — from print to video to the Internet.